


Lakeside Lovers

by yangsblakes



Category: RWBY
Genre: Camping, Dreams and Nightmares, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Humor, Mutual Pining, Previous m/f pairings alluded to, Sun lucked out, Vacation, blake and weiss are nice friends, qrow and taiyang and zwei are there for a sec, qrow might play a meaningful part actually, rwby bumbleby, rwby whiterose, sfw, yang and ruby are good sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-11-28 21:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11426511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yangsblakes/pseuds/yangsblakes
Summary: The girls weren't expecting to confront their romantic feelings towards their friends when they invited Blake and Weiss to their family cottage. A week at the lake might entail more than just swimming and camping.





	1. A Day at the Lake

**Author's Note:**

> Hey yall this fic will update every Wednesday and Friday.

Panic struck Weiss’s heart and shone in her bright icy eyes. As she inched backward, her feet neared the edge of the platform. She shot a fearful glance at the water below. There was nowhere left to go. 

Ruby stepped ever closer, a maniacal grin on her face. Her eyes were squinting, her fingers wiggling teasingly at Weiss. The old wooden dock creaked with each step. An evil giggle escaped her grinning teeth. 

Weiss’s eyes widened. “R-Ruby Rose, so help me! If you push me in this water I’ll—AAAH!” A big splash followed her unheard plea.

“Hahaha! You’ll what?!” Ruby called. She pushed her bangs away from her eyes to watch Weiss resurface. 

All of a sudden a new voice appeared. “Hey Ruby think fast.” Before the poor girl could even turn around, she was face-first in the lake. She already knew it was Yang who’d betrayed her. Ruby’s head popped up and she spit out some water.

“Ha ha!” Weiss taunted. She received a swift splash to the face.

Yang watched from the dock, fiddling with her yellow bikini strings. She began to walk back to Blake who was sunbathing in a chair on the wider part of the platform. “Hey Blake,” Yang said, “Can you help me tie this tighter?”

Blake peered over her shades and sat up. “Sure,” she replied. Yang held the strings out for her and Blake took them, momentarily letting her hands rest on Yang’s. “How’s that?” she asked.

“That’s great, thanks.” Yang gave her a warm smile which Blake timidly returned. Yang looked across the yard towards the back doors of the cottage. She eyed her prosthetic. “I think I’ll just leave my arm inside,” she decided. 

“Going swimming?” Blake asked.

“Yep. You should too!” Yang encouraged, starting to walk away. “If you want to,” she added.

Blake watched as she left and sighed. She pushed her sunglasses up and rested against the chair again. With her eyes closed she thought of Yang radiating positive energy in her bright yellow two-piece. Lost in thought, Blake hardly noticed the shaking and clunking of incoming footsteps.

“Are you coming in?”

“Huh?” Blake turned to face Yang, who was now holding a pool noodle. “Oh. Nah I’m good right here.”

“Aw, you sure?”

“Yep.”

Yang rolled her eyes and smiled. “Suit yourself.” At the mention of the word ‘suit’, she pulled at her own swimsuit top and winked. “Don’t burn to a crisp though.”

“I will try my best not to,” Blake answered nonchalantly. A few seconds passed before she heard Yang throw herself at the water with a loud sploosh, followed by cries of anguish from Ruby and Weiss. Blake laughed to herself. 

Floating in the lake, Ruby spotted a raft with a small ladder. She glanced at Weiss. “Hey Weiss,” she pointed at the raft, “bet I can swim to that raft faster than you can.”

Weiss’s eyes narrowed in determination. “Oh, it is on,” she declared, getting a head start.

“Hey wait!” Ruby called, hastily splashing along. “No fair! I didn’t say go.”

“Boo hoo!” Weiss called, giggling. “Cry me another lake to race you in!” 

Yang laughed as she watched from afar. She leaned on her pool noodle and looked up at the dock to find Blake standing up. Blake took her time removing her long white cover up, revealing her black one-piece swimsuit. Dazzled momentarily, Yang faltered in returning Blake’s greeting. She waved meekly at her.

“The water’s great!” Yang announced. Blake began a careful descent down the ladder, shocked when her feet hit the icy water. “Dude.”

“I’m working on it,” Blake told her. 

Yang shook her head. “You just gotta… Blake, look at me, you just gotta go for it.”

She slammed her fist into the water. “If you jump in, it’s easier. Just do it real quick,”

Yang advised despite Blake’s complaints. “I’ll count to three for you. When I get to three, you jump in. One…”

“Yang…”

“Two…”

“Yang, no.”

“Two and a half…”

Blake grinned, lowering her head in shame. “Two and a half? That was nice of you.”

“Three! Three Blake! Oh my god, it’s three! Aaah! Here you go! Here it comes!”

Finally Blake let go of the ladder, plunging into the lake with a small reluctant screech. When her head popped up, she cursed Yang for saying that the water was fine. She began to swim around Yang to warm up.

Yang peered over at her sister. “Aw Weiss won.”

On the rocking raft, Weiss stood victorious. “Ha ha ha!” she laughed, her arms in the air. She turned to Ruby who was slowly climbing the ladder. “You owe me a dollar.”

“Weiss it wasn’t for money.” Ruby crawled onto the rough, short carpet and balanced herself. “Besides, I have a different prize for you.”

Curious, Weiss turned around. She was alarmed to realize that Ruby was only inches from her face. “What exactly… did you have in mind?” Weiss asked.

With a small, calm smile, Ruby extended her hand and shoved Weiss into the water. Again. “Now we’re even,” Ruby said.

Weiss splashed below her, spitting out lake water. Her white bangs covered her eyes. “Ruby!” she yelled. Ruby giggled. “That does not make us even!” She began to swim towards the ladder. “So help me,” she muttered, “just you wait till I get up there. I’ll show you. Then you’ll be sorry. Smh, pushes me in the water, I’ll show her…”

“What!” Ruby called. She held out her hand to help Weiss up, but Weiss pushed it aside.

Still holding the ladder, Weiss retorted, “I wasn’t talking to you.”

“Well stop talking to yourself and come fight me. Whoever falls off the raft loses,” Ruby announced. Although her hair was barely shoulder length, she used a red rubber band around her wrist to tie her hair up.

“You got it,” Weiss accepted.

The girls circled the raft, arms out and ready to push the other. Suddenly Ruby launched herself at Weiss, but Weiss ducked out of the way last minute, sending Ruby flying off the raft. She shrieked just before hitting the water.

Weiss peered down at her. “Now that makes us even.”

“I let you win!” Ruby claimed.

“You can tell yourself that all you want,” Weiss replied with a smug smile.

“Ack!” Ruby looked to the dock by where Blake and Yang were swimming. “The first one to swim to the dock gets ice cream!” Before Weiss could answer, she was off.

“Ruby… there’s…” Weiss sighed. “There’s enough ice cream for everybody.” She jumped in and followed Ruby nonetheless.

As Ruby ran down the dock, with Weiss following close behind, Blake climbed the ladder and offered Yang a hand. At first, Yang was caught off guard. “I can do it myself,” she snapped. Did Blake not think she could climb a simple ladder unassisted? Blake’s open hand shriveled shut. Looking up at her, Yang felt a burst of guilt. “Uh, I mean… sorry. Thanks.” She took Blake’s hand then followed her off the dock and through the grass.

The girls silently headed up the hill past the quaint white cottage. Yang paused to yank her black cover up from its place on the railing. While putting it on, she realized that they were automatically walking away from the house. How did they both decide to do that? She turned to Blake, who was watching her with an unreadable expression. Her arms were crossed, her raven hair blowing in the breeze. 

“Yang,” Blake began, “were you mad at me or something?” Embarrassed, Yang averted her eyes. “I mean, what was that? You just yelled at me.” 

With a sigh, Yang leaned against the railing and gave Blake an apologetic look. “I’m sorry Blake. There wasn’t a reason for that.”

Blake’s eyes narrowed skeptically. Then her face softened as she moved closer to Yang. “Is something on your mind?”

“What? No.” Although Yang said this, she knew it wasn’t true, and that Blake was well aware. Laughing awkwardly, Yang shook her head. “Okay, yeah. It’s just… I don’t know.” Blake waited patiently, all of her focus on her friend. “I was thinking about how people keep assuming that I can’t handle things myself. It bothers me.”

Nodding, Blake listened. “Yang, you’re very strong. And smart.” Her hand twitched as she got the idea to put her arm around Yang, but decided against it. “And you’re a great friend.”

“Thanks Blake.”

“Mm. You know, people might offer to help you because they like to help, not because they think you can’t do things.” She added, “But I see what you were saying too.”

The two stood there in thoughtful silence for a moment before being interrupted by Ruby’s announcement. “Guys!” Ruby called. “There’s ice cream!”

“Cool!” Yang replied. Blake chuckled. “Well,” Yang pushed off of the railing, “want some ice cream?”

“Sure.”

 

Some time later, Ruby emerged from the cottage and put on some ladybug sunglasses. She wore a red towel around her waist that was still wet from earlier. Trailing behind her was a curious Weiss, whose hair was tied in a bun now. The girls neared a garage separate from the house. When they got there, Ruby turned the doorknob and used her weight to open the door. Weiss slowly followed her inside.

“Ruby, you still haven’t told me what’s in here,” Weiss pointed out. She heard Ruby’s scratchy footsteps come to a halt and turned to see her standing by a large tarp. The smell of gasoline was thick in the air.

“Press the garage door button,” Ruby requested. 

Weiss glanced at the glowing button and pressed it. As the door screeched open, Ruby removed the tarp to reveal the surprise.

“A golf cart?”

“Yeah!”

Weiss watched as Ruby plopped down in the driver’s seat. “Are we gonna go golfing?”

Ruby laughed, shaking her head. “No Weiss, just get in.”

After peaking back at the cottage for a moment, Weiss complied. She took a seat next to Ruby and held the small armrest. Then Ruby began to slowly drive down the driveway, picking up speed once they hit the road. With her foot smashed down on the gas pedal, Ruby cruised passed several bright cottages. She had expected Weiss to tell her that she was going too fast, but when Ruby looked over at her, Weiss was calmly taking in the neighborhood. Stray pieces of hair whipped around her face, but she was unfazed. Their eyes met and Weiss smiled. Interesting. Ruby turned her focus back to the road as she turned into another section of the neighborhood.

As she drove, Ruby began to recall a memory. “When I was little, I really wanted to drive this thing, but I was too small to reach the pedals.” Weiss took interest in this story. “So what my dad would do was he’d drive, but he put me on his lap so I could steer. I was so excited,” Ruby said with a grin. “He did the same with Yang.”

“That’s nice,” Weiss commented quietly. She watched trees and houses go by. “You have a caring father.”

Side glancing Weiss, Ruby pulled into a grassy patch where the neighborhood ended and met the street. “Yeah,” Ruby agreed. “He’s always been there for me.”

Weiss nodded thoughtfully. “I’m glad that he was.”

Sensing Weiss’s wistful tone, Ruby thought about Weiss’s family. “I’m sorry yours... wasn’t.” She watched Weiss’s face. 

Weiss looked away. “Yeah,” she said. “Well I don’t need him anyway.” She leaned against the seat cushion and looked back at Ruby. “I like being here with you… all.”

“Aww, Weiss.” Ruby wrapped her arms around Weiss, who sat up straighter in surprise. “I like having you here.”

Weiss rolled her eyes, but she smiled and reciprocated Ruby’s hug.


	2. Her Healing Touch

Shadows danced against the two tents in the yard as the flames rose. The campfire crackled, sending smoke into the navy sky. Blake’s face glowed ominously as she peered at the others. She was in the middle of telling a story, the others listening intently.

In a low, steady voice, Blake continued. “Finally, after days of mysterious happenings, the man decided to investigate. That evening he approached the house and knocked on the door. It began to rain.”

“Oh my, it began to rain.”

Ruby gave Weiss an exasperated look. “Weiss _shhh_ it’s an important detail.”

Blake paused. “But nobody answered. So the man went inside.”

“That’s kind of rude.”

“ _Weiss_ ,” Ruby hissed. “ _You’re_ kind of rude.”

“Ouch,” Yang said.

“As I was saying,” Blake continued, “He made his way into the home and saw a feast prepared on the dining room table. But no one was there. He called and walked around, even checking in the back, but he saw no one. Suddenly!” Blake threw her hand on Yang’s shoulder.

“Ah—Blake!” Yang gasped. “Holy _shit_.” She laughed and so did the others.

Blake smiled but quickly resumed character. “The man felt a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around but didn’t see anyone. He could have sworn he felt a presence. Just then he realized that faint music was coming from the bedroom. So he followed it.”

“No,” Ruby whispered.

“ _Yes he did_ ,” Blake replied softly. 

Just then they heard the grass crunching as someone approached. Ruby jumped and Weiss looked up in alarm. 

“Relax,” Taiyang said with a laugh. He was holding supplies for s’mores. “It’s just me.” He handed Ruby a tray of crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows, and everyone took a roasting fork.

“Thanks dad,” Ruby said.

A new voice materialized from the darkness behind Yang and Blake. “If you want to hear a true scary story—”

Yang spun around. “Qrow?!”

“What true story?” Blake inquired.

With a prolonged sigh, Qrow took a seat on a towel between Ruby and Yang. “This happened once a mission,” he began. The others listened.

 

Around midnight, the fire was nothing but hot coals. Taiyang and Qrow had just left. Weiss helped Ruby douse the coals in lake water. The tents zipped and unzipped as they all got ready for bed. Weiss had only packed a nightgown but she was also wearing a pair of Ruby’s black sweatpants. She said goodnight to everyone and retired to the tent with Ruby.

Yang entered the other tent to find Blake reading a book on her sleeping bag, holding a flashlight as she turned the page. She was wearing a short black robe. Blake placed placed a bookmark at the start of a new chapter and set the book aside. The flashlight stayed on as Yang got situated into her sleeping bag. After setting her jacket and prosthetic aside, she tucked herself in and nodded at Blake to turn off the flashlight.

Blake pushed her sleeping bag a little closer to Yang’s. “I hope I didn’t scare you too much,” she said.

“What, with your story? Nah,” Yang assured her. “Not that it wasn’t a good story. Hey, you never finished it did you.”

Blake shook her head. “No, I wanted to hear Qrow’s. I think everyone did.”

“Well how does yours end?” Yang asked.

“Ha, do you actually want to know?” Blake said. Yang nodded. “Where did I leave off?”

Yang’s eyes wandered around the tent in thought. She stared out the screen, watching the last of the cottage’s lights go out. “The man was in the house,” Yang reminded her. “He heard music playing. And he went to go check it out, because I guess he wasn’t scared enough yet.”

“Right,” Blake replied. “So let’s see… so the man walked down the hallway and knocked on the bedroom door.”

“And no one was there?”

Blake nodded. “Yeah. But then the music stopped. In the following silence, he felt a sudden chill. He heard the front door open. The floorboards around him began to creak. But he didn’t see anything. Afraid now, he peaked out into the hallway before running through the house and out the front door. He decided to never go back there, for the house must be haunted.”

“He returned to his house across the street and decided to call his friend to tell him what had happened. When his friend didn’t answer the phone, he thought he would go for a walk into town. So the man went into town. As he walked down the streets he noticed that none of the cars were moving as the light turned green. Suddenly he noticed that all of them were empty. He entered a coffee shop to ask what was going on. But no one was there.”

Although Blake couldn’t see it in the dark, Yang was fixated on this story. It was a bit predictable, yet oddly creepy. Maybe it was the way Blake told it, so somber and calculated. She gazed in the direction of Blake’s voice. 

In the other tent, Weiss and Ruby could hear the story as well. Ruby frowned, feeling slightly uneasy and sorry for the man in the empty town. But then Weiss’s hand accidentally brushed against her shoulder, and Ruby felt a calming warmth knowing that Weiss was beside her.

Blake continued. “No matter where the man went, he could not locate a soul. The strangest thing about all of this was that sometimes, he could hear pieces of what a busy world used to sound like. One time, he thought he heard a car horn. Another time, he thought he heard a dog barking. A child laughing. Dishes clinking together. In reality, no one was there.”

“Wh… Where did they go?” Yang asked.

“That’s the thing,” Blake said. “They didn’t go anywhere. The man did. In his following years of solitude, he realized that the haunted house was a portal between a populated world and an empty one.” Yang didn’t say anything. Blake kept explaining. “The noises he had once heard coming from the empty house were the sounds of imprisoned people, trapped on the other side. When he opened the door to the house that day, he set them free. But in doing so, he confined himself to a life of emptiness. Now, whenever people pass by that house, sometimes they can hear him begging to return.”

The following silence was heavy. “Blake what the fuck,” Yang whispered. Blake chuckled a little. “That’s seriously so messed up. Where did you hear that?”

“Did you like it?”

“Well… I mean it was good. But now I’m scared to be alone,” Yang admitted with a nervous laugh. She heard the rustling of Blake’s sleeping bag, then felt Blake’s warm hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay,” Blake said. “I’m right here with you.” She kept her hand there. Yang placed her left hand on it.

Something shifted in Yang’s heart that night, but she didn’t mention it. Her eyes became heavy, but she wanted to appreciate this moment for as long as she could.

 

Yang opened her eyes and looked around the tent. Blake’s sleeping bag was empty, the top layer spread out to reveal part of the plaid inside layer. She unzipped her own sleeping bag and reached over to her prosthetic. 

When Yang left the tent, she felt odd but didn’t know why. Maybe she was still thrown off by that weird story Blake told. Why did Blake have to do that anyway? Why couldn’t she just tell a story about an axe murderer? Yang passed the other tent while she was lost in thought. She stopped for a second to peek inside it through the screen, but no one was there. They must all be at breakfast.

Slowly Yang made her way up the steps and through the door. “Good morning,” she said. She froze. The table was set with boxes of cereal, freshly baked bread, juices, plates, silverware… No one was there. 

Her heart pounding, she knocked on the bathroom door, then opened it to find an empty room. She ran downstairs, frantically taking in the area. She opened all the doors in the house. But nobody was there.

“Guys?” she called. Panting, she ran up the stairs again, heading out the door and towards the driveway. “Dad?” She entered the garage. “Ruby?” Their car was still in the driveway. Yang opened the doors. “Weiss?” she said breathlessly. 

She ran down the hill into the backyard, by the lake. Their boat was attached to the dock. She searched it. “Uncle Qrow?”

“Yang,” a disembodied voice whispered.

Yang’s head shot up. “Blake? Blake is that you?”

“Here I am.”

“Where?!” Yang spun around, but no one was there. Hot tears streamed down her face as her throat began to tighten. “I don’t see you! Where are you?! Blake?! Where did you—”

 

Suddenly, Yang was waking up again. This time, Blake was bending over her and gently shaking her. “Yang? Yang,” Blake whispered.

Disoriented, Yang gazed into Blake’s amber eyes. They shone with love and concern. “Uh, what? Oh,” Yang mumbled. She sat up, allowing Blake to put an arm around her. “Dude… I had an awful nightmare.”

“I thought so,” Blake said. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah it’s fine. Just a dream,” Yang insisted. The sounds of birds chirping and of Zwei barking in the distance comforted her. She even heard Qrow tell Zwei to knock it off, which made her chuckle. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Blake offered.

Yang stared at her for a moment. “I think I’d rather just have a hug if that’s okay.” Blake smiled, embracing her. “Thanks,” Yang told her quietly.

“You sure it’s okay? You seem a little off.”

Yang wrapped her arm around Blake. “It is now,” she said.


	3. My Best Friend

Silently Weiss sat on the swingset facing the lake. She let herself swing slightly. Yang and Blake were sitting on the boat together, but she couldn’t hear their conversation. Everyone had just finished eating lunch. Now she was left alone to relax for a while. 

She thought about Ruby, reflecting on everything that had happened from the moment they’d met up until today. The two of them had grown much closer since that first day at school. Ruby had spilled Weiss’s luggage all over the ground. Weiss smiled a bit. She’d been so offended by Ruby’s presence, so quick to snap at her. It was definitely something she regretted. But at least they were friends now. Really close friends. Weiss sighed.

Quick creaking footsteps interrupted Weiss’s train of thought. She spotted Ruby sprinting down the cottage’s wooden stairs and the two made eye contact.

“Oh, there you are!” Ruby called. She made her way over to the swings. “Uh, is everything okay?”

Weiss nodded, beaming. “Yeah I’m simply admiring the lake by myself. Care to join?” she asked, gesturing to the empty swing beside her.

“Sure,” Ruby agreed, taking a seat. Weiss glanced at her and giggled. “What? What’s so funny over there, hm?”

“It’s just… Blake and I were looking at the photos of you and Yang spending time here as little kids, and I saw a cute one taken of you on this swingset.”

Blushing slightly, Ruby laughed. “Oh yeah, I know that one. I was about to fall off the swing.”

“Really?”

“Yep. True facts.”

“You should be more careful.”

Ruby raised an eyebrow, a goofy grin on her face. “I was five or something!”

Smirking, Weiss began to push herself off the ground and swing. “Still relevant,” she commented quietly.

Ruby began to swing too, focusing all her effort on matching Weiss’s speed. “I’m _careful_ ,” Ruby insisted.

“I’m just teasing.”

Ruby halted her swing and pushed again, working on getting her swing to sway perfectly alongside Weiss’s. Noticing all the concentration put into making it possible, Weiss asked what Ruby was doing. Ruby explained the goal of making their swings line up.

When she succeeded, Ruby exclaimed, “Hey I did it! Look Weiss, we’re married.”

“We’re what?” Weiss stole a glimpse at Ruby. In doing so she lost her grip on the swing and fell backwards into the sand.

Ruby gasped and planted her feet on the ground. She couldn’t decide whether to laugh or ask Weiss if she was okay, so she just did both at the same time. Concerned yet entertained, Ruby helped Weiss sit up at least. The two of them sat in the sand. “Who was that person who’s not careful again?” Ruby taunted, snickering.

“Touche,” Weiss mumbled. She looked down and noticed her hand still resting in Ruby’s. Funny how it felt so right. 

Ruby seemed to notice too, but she didn’t mention it or pull away. Instead she looked Weiss in the eye and beamed. Weiss’s heart fluttered. “Hey Weiss.”

“Yes?” Weiss tensed.

“I… we’re just… listen,” Ruby stuttered, “You’re my best friend. Got that?”

Weiss exhaled and nodded. She smiled. “You’re mine too, you dork.” 

Ruby removed her hand and stood. She paused awkwardly as she realized that she needed to take Weiss’s hand again to help her up. “I’ll be back in a sec,” Ruby said, heading towards the cottage. 

She pried open the old screen door below the deck, which lead to the basement. Ruby headed down a dark hallway and into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. All she did was lean against the door and stare up at the ceiling. She crossed her arms and sighed.

Outside, Weiss sat on the dock, her feet dangling into the water. Yang and Blake were still chatting in the boat nearby. They were talking about the future. Weiss was half listening.

“Do you think you’ll date again soon?” Yang asked Blake.

Blake had previously been smiling at something Yang said, but now her smile fell as she sat in thought. “I…” she looked at Yang for a moment. “Hmm,” she said with a small laugh. Yang shared a nervous laugh with her. “I don’t know… I mean yes. But I just… I’m still kind of figuring things out after my last relationship.”

“Do you still talk to him?” Yang inquired. Suddenly she felt a little nosy and hoped that she wasn’t coming off that way. 

“Oh, Sun? Yeah, we’re friends still. It was a little strange at first, but I don’t think it’ll be a big deal.” Blake gazed out at the lake, watching speed boats pass by and listening to the waves. “What messes with my head is that… Sun didn’t really do anything wrong, you know?” 

Yang listened intently, adding a “mm” or “uh huh” now and then. She selfishly was glad that Blake didn’t end up with Sun, but guiltily acknowledged that Sun wasn’t a bad dude either. And she felt bad about Blake’s struggles.

Blake continued, “But something just told me that it wasn’t… what I wanted I guess. So I’ve just been taking some time to think about it.”

“That’s good,” Yang said. “Just take all the time you need to think about what you want to do.”

“You know something?”

“Hm?”

“Even though I don’t know who’s going to be walking down the aisle with me, I like to think about having a wedding someday.”

Yang smiled. “What kind of wedding is it?” she asked softly.

“There are so many possibilities. Maybe a small wedding? With beautiful flowers. And our friends are there.” Blake paused. Yang blushed. “I mean, a lot of my friends are your friends too. And you’ll be there,” Blake explained. Twisting her hair, she averted her eyes.

“Yeah I can’t wait,” Yang replied, beaming. 

Ruby returned to the backyard and noticed Weiss sitting by herself. She walked down the dock and sat next to her. Together they listened to Yang and Blake talk about their romantic futures. Ruby listened. She thought of Weiss.


	4. Sisters and Secrets

That night, Ruby couldn’t fall asleep. There were too many thoughts racing around in her head. Everyone was in their tents now. It was pitch black outside and had to be around 2 a.m. She suddenly sat up in her sleeping bag and then carefully stepped out of the tent, taking her time with the loud zipper. 

As Ruby headed towards the dock, she looked around at the shadows of the trees, the lofty playset in the sand, the calm glossy water reflecting white moonlight. She tiptoed across the creaking dock until she decided on a beach chair and took a seat. The lake was beautiful and serene, the night air cold and refreshing. She looked up at the sky and stared at the clusters of stars.

The dock shook suddenly and Ruby jumped. She turned to find Yang approaching. Yang waved meekly and stood at her side. “Mind if I join you?” she asked quietly. 

“Did I wake you up?” Ruby worried. She watched Yang get settled in her chair and look up at the sky. 

“Nah,” Yang assured her. “I’ve been up.”

“Me too.”

After taking a moment to appreciate the silence, Yang asked, “Something on your mind, Rubes?”

Ruby chuckled. “A lot of somethings.”

“Yeah,” Yang agreed. “Any of them worth mentioning.”

“Maybe… but I don’t know what to say exactly.” Ruby gazed at the lake. “Hey what about you?”

“Who me?”

“No Yang, I meant the fish below us.”

The girls giggled. Yang hummed in thought. “Well. Maybe it’s time I… I’ve been meaning to tell you a secret. Don’t get too excited… it’s kind of embarrassing.”

“A secret?” Ruby shuffled few some possibilities in her mind, but she was stumped.

“Yeah. You have to promise not to tell anyone, okay?” Yang urged. She was sitting up and leaning towards Ruby.

Ruby placed a hand over her heart. “You have my word, sis. I won’t tell a soul.” What could be so important?

Yang leaned against the chair again. “Okay. The thing is… I have a crush on… one of our friends.”

Ruby blinked. “Oh!”

“Shhh.”

“Oh,” Ruby whispered. She thought for a moment before asking, more loudly this time, “Is it Blake?”

“SHHHH!” Yang shushed her to the point of spitting on her face. She whirled around as if Blake were standing right there.

“So it’s Blake,” Ruby confirmed with a laugh.

“Ruby.”

“Well?”

Yang let out an exasperated sigh, her face slightly redder now. “Yes it’s… Blake.”

Ruby took a second to consider this. She had never deeply thought about what kind of person Yang would end up with. To know that it could be one of their mutual friends, and Blake nonetheless, was great news. That just made them more of a family. “That’s great news,” Ruby whispered. “Are you going to tell her?”

“Oh, Ruby, I don’t… I don’t know. What if she doesn’t like me back? She probably doesn’t. And she’s going through some stuff right now, relationship stuff, it’s probably not the best time…” 

“Well,” Ruby interrupted, “when you decide to tell her, I’ve got your back. Let me know if I can help.”

Yang beamed. “Thanks Ruby.” She gave her a hug. “Hey, anything you wanted to talk about?”

Ruby gazed at the tent where Weiss was sleeping. “I don’t think so,” she said.


	5. Rocky Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lol sorry I forgot to update this earlier

Blake, Yang, and Weiss lounged on a couch in the basement, watching TV. Yang and Blake were in swimsuits while Weiss was still in pajamas. They were talking about possible activities to do that day.

All of a sudden, the door burst open, revealing an excited Ruby. “Guys!” she exclaimed. “My dad is taking the boat out!” She jumped on top of an ottoman and shot her fist in the air. “Who will tube with me?!”

After a second of shocked silence, Weiss raised her hand slightly. “I guess I will.”

“Well then go put your swimsuit on!”

“You can’t tell me what to do,” Weiss remarked. She stood up and yanked her swimsuit off of the hook where it had been drying. Before heading into the bathroom, she turned to the others and proclaimed, “I’m doing this because I wanted to, not because she told me to do it.”

“Okay Weiss,” Blake mumbled.

Yang turned towards Blake. “Hey Blake, maybe you could be tubing buddy.”

“Oh, well, yeah maybe?” Blake fidgeted with her swimsuit string. “Maybe if your dad goes slow.”

“Sure thing,” Yang said.

 

The speed boat swerved around the curve of the lake and bumped up and down with every big wave. Blake and Yang sat next to each other on the side chairs, closer to the middle. At Ruby’s request, Qrow was at the wheel. He was sporting shades and wore nothing else but black board shorts. He turned his head for a second to check on Ruby and Weiss who were clinging to the handles of an inflatable seat a few feet behind the boat.

Yang was in charge of watching for signals. When Ruby gave her a thumbs up, Yang grinned and told Qrow to go faster. She was so caught up in the fun of racing around the lake and watching Weiss and Ruby scream that she had forgotten what Blake said earlier. Blake sat beside her, gripping a boat handle with white knuckles. 

Eventually, the boat slowed towards the edge of the lake where Qrow parked to retrieve the girls. Ruby’s maniacal laughter rang louder as the engine stopped. “I almost died,” Weiss claimed, but she had a smile on her face. 

Yang looked to Blake in anticipation. “It’s our turn, what do you say?” She grinned.

Blake looked from Yang to Qrow to Ruby to Weiss. “Uh… okay,” she answered cautiously. “But if I fall off, someone’s going to die today, and it won’t be me.” Everyone laughed except Blake, who only managed a small smile. “Seriously though, start us out slowly.”

“Lame yet manageable,” Qrow commented. He helped keep the tube by the boat while the girls got in, then pushed them out into the water. “Slowly,” he muttered, starting the engine. He looked over at Weiss and Ruby, who were drenched. “Hey was that fun or what?”

“Yeah!” Ruby shouted.

“I’ll watch for signals,” Weiss offered. She sat facing the back of the boat. “They’re ready.”

Out in the water, Blake’s heart was racing. Maybe she should have gone first. After watching Qrow recklessly yank the others around, she was nothing less than terrified. And yet she didn’t want to look like a wimp. Especially not in front of Yang.

“Ah! I can’t wait. Are you ready?” Yang asked eagerly. She buckled her life jacket and checked the waterproof covering duct taped to her arm. When Blake didn’t answer right away, Yang made eye contact. Only then did she notice Blake’s thinly masked apprehension. 

“Yeah I guess I --” 

Before Blake could finish, they took off. Yang sat back, enjoying the breeze while comfortably holding the handles. She kept an eye on Blake now, who seemed to be doing alright so far. “It’s not so bad, is it?” Yang said.

“This is fine,” Blake said. She repeated it over the sounds of the boat and the wind. It was a good thing her hair was tied up. Yang reached over and patted her hand. “I’m not scared,” Blake insisted.

“Okay,” Yang said. “You asked to go slow.”

“Well, I can handle it.” Blake gave a thumbs up to the boat and Weiss returned it. The boat increased speed. 

“Waves!” Yang shouted. The tube leapt out of the water a few times and Yang laughed. Blake couldn’t help but join her. “Why don’t we speed this thing up.” She signaled Weiss and Qrow complied. 

Blake noticed other boats around and watched them speed through the water. Busy area. Suddenly a patch of waves cut through the lake and began to toss the girls in the air. They were in for a bumpy ride. When they soared in the air for at least three seconds, only to come crashing back down into rough waters, Blake screamed. She squeezed the handles for dear life. About to yell something to Yang, she stopped and realized Yang was giving another thumbs up. “Okay maybe no more thumbs up after this?!”

“Okay okay!” Yang replied. 

The longer the ride continued, the more both of them screamed. Blake had considered giving a thumbs down to decrease speed, but in doing that, she risked two things. First of all, she could fall off if she let go of the handle for even a second, but she also risked shame. She would not be laughed at and she would not disappoint Yang.

Laughing, Yang called, “Hey Blake! If you do fall off, who’s gonna die!” The boat turned and splashed both of them. 

“Don’t joke about that!”

The boat started another sharp turn. Yang replied, “Are you gonna fight Qrow or --” 

Just then, time slowed down. Blake saw it all happen. Their tube dipped sideways into the water. The lake swallowed Yang mid-sentence. And the tube tipped so that Blake, on the opposite side, could watch as she was flung into the water. She hit the lake.

Tumbling around in the water, it was like Blake had been ejected from a spaceship. Her face scrunched up as she fought to hold her breath and keep her eyes closed. It was impossible to tell in which direction her body was moving. And then her life jacket shoved her to the surface. 

Once she resurfaced, Blake started coughing. She rubbed her eyes. There was water in her ears. Confused and startled, she looked around.

Yang swam towards her and the boat followed. “Blake!” Yang cried. “Are you okay?!”

“I-I’m fine!” Blake called, coughing again. When the boat was close enough, Yang helped her aboard. Weiss handed her a towel.

“That was interesting,” Weiss said.

“If by interesting, you mean awesome!” Ruby corrected. “Then yes it was. I got a picture of it with my scroll. Also, are you guys okay.”

“We’re all alive,” Yang said, “but not for long because Blake fell off so now she’s gonna kill someone, am I right Blake?” she teased.

“I’ll think about it,” Blake answered quietly. She didn’t say much for the rest of the ride.

Qrow parked the boat and everyone climbed out onto the dock. Ruby and Weiss went with Qrow into the cottage. Yang helped Blake out of the boat. She watched as Blake sat down in one of the chairs and curled up with her towel. “Hey what’s with you?” Yang asked playfully.

“What do you mean what’s with me. Your uncle dumped me into the lake after I specifically asked him to go slowly, and everyone thought it was funny!” Blake huffed and turned away.

“What are you talking about, Blake, you wanted to go faster.” Yang crossed her arms in disbelief. “He was just doing what you asked.

Blake objected. “You wanted to go faster!”

“You said you could ‘handle it,’ remember?” 

“I… Qrow wasn’t even supposed to drive, where did your dad go?”

“He had to go to the store and it doesn’t even matter. You knew Qrow was driving ahead of time anyway. And he started slow like you asked so why is this a big deal?”

“It went too far, okay.”

Yang threw her hands up and sat in the chair across from Blake. “Yeah so we fell over, big deal. You’re mad about that?”

“I said I didn’t want to fall over,” Blake reminded her coldly.

“It’s not like he tried to do that, you know, it just happened.”

From the deck, Ruby and Weiss could hear pieces of what Yang and Blake were saying. They gave each other a brief look of concern but mutually decided to stay out of it.

“Well maybe if he was more careful, it wouldn’t have happened,” Blake claimed.

“So you’re just mad because you think Qrow wanted you to fall in?”

“I-I’m, no, I --” Blake sighed. “I should have never gone on the water with you.”

Yang opened her mouth but then closed it. She tried to say something again, but to no avail. Blake’s temper began to cool as it was replaced with a heavier feeling. “Why would say that,” Yang said softly.

“What, no, I didn’t mean because of you. I liked being with you.”

“Then what’s _wrong_ Blake?”

Blake leaned back slightly. Tears stung her eyes, threatening to spill. She looked away. “Honestly, I was scared. I’m just a little shaken up.”

Yang’s expression softened as she processed what was happening. “You did seem a little off,” she admitted.

“I knew I’d fall off and that’s why I didn’t want to go very fast.” She looked Yang in the eye again.

Yang tried to understand. “Then why did you ask to go faster? You could have told them to slow down too.”

“Because Yang, I didn’t want to look like I was scared. And you were having so much fun…” she trailed off. Yang rested a hand on hers. Blake’s breath hitched.

“Blake,” Yang began. She was smiling but her eyes revealed her remorse. “What’s more important, me going super fast because I’m a speed demon with no concept of fear...?” Blake laughed. “Or you being comfortable and us having a good time together?”

“Thanks Yang.”

“How about a hug.”

Blake nodded, gratefully embracing her. Yang held her, feeling a little guilty but cherishing this moment. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize,” she told Blake.

“It’s okay Yang, I don’t blame you.”

Ruby watched them from the deck. “Lunch!” she announced.

Yang and Blake stood and headed towards the house. They each had a hand on the other’s back. “Do you think your dad got tuna at the store?” Blake asked.

“You wish he did,” Yang replied with a laugh. “I don’t know, maybe. I might have put in a request for you.”


	6. Wait A Minute

After lunch, the girls headed down to the lake, still in their swimsuits from earlier. It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies and sun shining brightly overhead. There were many boats out on the lake that afternoon. The speedboats were playing music or moving so fast that the riders screamed. An occasional sailboat appeared, attempting to maneuver through the waves.

Weiss and Blake decided to take out a kayak together. They lifted it off of its stand and placed it with slight difficulty into the water. They grabbed paddles from the sand and got started, with Weiss giving them the first push.

“So,” Weiss began, “you having fun on this trip?”

Blake nonchalantly turned her paddle around a couple times before realizing which way it was supposed to hit the lake. “Yeah,” she replied hesitantly. “This is great. I just didn’t like falling off of the boat.”

“Yeah that was rough,” Weiss commented sympathetically. “Well this is a different boat ride. We’ll stay on the shallow edge of the lake. That, and we have paddles to control it.”

Blake chuckled. “That’s my kind of boat ride.” She peered across the lake at a speed boat that had just thrown its passengers off of a tube ride. Her paddling faltered. “I guess it’s not Yang’s though.”

Weiss stopped rowing too. “What was that?” She asked.

Blake considered different things she could tell Weiss. She huffed and relaxed her arms, easing her paddle further into the water. “I… Yang’s my friend.”

“Okay, I’m with you so far.”

“And I want to keep being… good friends with her. I want us to be close. But sometimes she does something that makes me uncomfortable and… well it’s not like she realizes it, but anyway…”

Weiss held up a finger and her eyes went to the sky in thought. “Hold up. You said she doesn’t realize.”

“Yeah.”

“So what you’re saying is, if she did realize, it wouldn’t happen, and then it wouldn’t be a problem.”

“I guess so, yeah. Like today, she didn’t know why I was upset about falling off the boat and all that, and we got into this fight.”

Weiss nodded, making a mental note to inform Ruby about the topic of the fight that they’d been wondering about. “You two seemed fine at lunch.”

“Well, right, we talked about it and then she understood where I was coming from.”

Weiss picked up her paddle and gestured to Blake to keep rowing. They continued along the shore. “Then that’s great,” Weiss said. “You worked it out by talking to each other. I bet if you had talked about it even more, like beforehand, you wouldn’t have fought in the first place.”

Blake thought about that. “That makes sense. But still, the fact that we’re kind of different… she likes to move quickly and I like to move slowly. She has this way with people, she’s so outgoing and I’m kind of not? She’s brave and selfless. I’m…”

Weiss glanced at Blake in concern. “Hey Blake… a few things.” She turned around, facing forward again. The two of them continued to paddle. “First of all, it doesn’t matter if you and Yang have differences. Everybody’s different. If it was a problem, you wouldn’t be such good friends.” She paused. “And secondly… don’t be so hard on yourself. I think you’re pretty great, and I know Yang and Ruby feel the same.”

Blake took a deep breath and exhaled. “Thanks Weiss,” she said, smiling.

“No problem, what are friends for, right?” Weiss jammed her paddle into the lake. Startled, Blake looked over the edge of the kayak. Then she realized that the sand below was visible. Weiss pushed herself out of the kayak and stepped into the water. Blake followed, the lake only reaching her ankles.

The two of them ended up sitting in the water and inspecting pieces of shells. They talked for a while about the trip and other things. Weiss scooped up a handful of sand and let it fall again. She gazed at the clouds.

“Can I tell you something?” Weiss said.

Interested, Blake replied, “Go for it.”

“I… well, I have a… crush. On someone. A uh… a friend.”

Blake let that information float in the air for a moment. “Alright uh, just gonna get this off the table, is it me?”

Weiss laughed and shook her head. “No Blake, it’s not you. No offense.”

“Don’t worry, just making sure. But seriously, who is it?”

“A friend.”

“Okay, mysterious. If I can’t know who it is, then what did you want to talk about?”

“I might tell you, I’m thinking about it,” Weiss replied. “I was just gonna ask for advice. I don’t know what to do. I want to tell her, but I don’t know if she likes me back, or if she’d be weirded out. I don’t want to ruin the friendship.”

Blake waved her hand around in the water. “That’s tough. You could start slowly. Maybe ask her what she would do if one of her friends had a crush on her. You could ask if she’s thinking about dating… sometime...” Blake’s hand dropped into the sand, her eyes narrowing in thought.

“I can do that,” Weiss decided.

“Can I make another guess at who it is?”

Weiss stared at her for a few seconds and squinted. “No.”

“Okay. But I know who it is.”

“No you don’t, I didn’t tell you. How could you possibly? You can guess, but I won’t confirm anything.” Standing up now, Blake headed back into the boat. Weiss went with her and picked up the paddle. “See, you don’t even know because you didn’t say anything.” They pushed off of the sandbank.

“It’s Ruby,” Blake said.

Weiss’s eyes widened, her mouth agape. Then they narrowed, her face scrunched in defeat. “Just paddle the boat, Blake.”

Laughing, Blake compiled.


	7. Loosen Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's currently day 3 of their week-long stay, in case you were wondering.

The lake’s quiet hours began to take effect at 7 p.m. as speed boats retired to their docks and pontoons emerged. Waves subsided. A faint breeze caught the leaves of tall trees that towered above the deck. Ruby sat at a glass table, wearing her cover up, along with her sister and two friends. She was warming them up to the idea of playing Uno.

Soon enough, Ruby was passing out cards from the newly shuffled deck. “Make sure you each have seven,” she reminded them.

Blake inspected her cards with not much interest. Yang, on the other hand, took a glance at her cards and wiggled her eyebrows. She ignored Blake’s comment about the consequences of lacking a poker face.

Weiss squinted at her cards. “So how does this work again?” she asked.

“It’s simple,” Ruby said, setting down the deck and placing the first card. “You need to put down a card that matches the table’s card. It can match colors or numbers. Your goal is to get down to one card.”

Weiss examined her Uno inventory. “Oh, I see. And then there are special cards.”

“Yes,” Ruby confirmed. “You use them to test friendships.”

Weiss blinked. “What?”

“Yang goes first!” Ruby announced. 

“Okay,” Yang said, grinning. She spread her cards out with her fingers. “Let’s see… ah, crap.” She drew another card. “Weiss if you don’t have a matching card, due to someone’s poor shuffling, just pick up another.” Yang glanced at Blake who was lightly fanning herself with her cards. “Your turn.”

Without a word, Blake slapped her ‘skip’ card on the table with a loud thwap. Her eyes met Ruby’s and she revealed the smallest sly smile.

Ruby pursed her lips, her eyes wider now. “Oh,” she said curtly. “So that’s what we’re doing.” She sighed and looked to Weiss. “It’s your turn now because I guess I wasn’t good enough for Blake.”

“Sorry Ruby.”

“No you’re not,” Ruby hissed. Yang had to laugh.

Weiss selected a card. “Umm, here you go Ruby.” She placed a ‘reverse’ card, allowing for Ruby to have a turn now.

Ruby’s face lit up. “Aww Weiss! This is why I love you.” Her word choice hung awkwardly in the air. Weiss looked down at her cards and smiled. Ruby’s heart fluttered.

“So it’s my turn then, right?” Blake asked. She selected a basic number card.

Yang rolled her eyes and selected another card. “Oh,” she whispered, placing the card she had just drawn. 

Nobody spoke. Their eyes were on their cards. Ruby’s eyes shifted from Yang to Weiss. She kept her cards close, making an annoyed comment about how she didn’t have enough blue cards. For a moment, the girls cycled through their turns in peace, each sticking to simple cards. This is known as the calm before the storm. The players are waiting to see who will make the first strike.

“Weiss, let’s team up to defeat Yang and Blake,” Ruby whispered. Thunder rolled in the distance and everyone looked to the sky. Yang fumbled with the closed umbrella in the middle of their table. Ruby looked back at Weiss, expecting a confirmation.

Weiss frowned sympathetically. “Ruby… I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

A couple raindrops slowly peppered Ruby’s hand. “Weiss? What are you talking about?” Suddenly Ruby gasped as Weiss revealed a wild card. 

“Draw four, Ruby,” Weiss commanded with false pity. “The color is blue.”

“Weiss, you snake,” Yang commented. 

“Anyway,” Blake said, selecting her card, “here’s a blue reverse.” She paused to show everyone that she only had one card left. “Uno.”

Yang commented, “Blake I’m gonna get you, just you wait.” Blake raised her eyebrows but said nothing. Ruby huffed and drew another card. Weiss placed a blue five. “BLAKE!” Yang shouted.

“Geez Yang, what?” Blake watched as Yang placed a blue ‘skip’ card. She stared blankly at it. “What, that’s it?”

“Uh?! Yeah?! You can’t go now. How’s that uno working for you? It’s not. Because I skipped you.”

Blake half listened as she drew another card. Ruby had reversed the order of the game again. “Yang it’s your turn again.”

Yang went. Then Weiss reversed the order again. Yang drew a card, looked at Blake, and set down a wild card. Blake moved her head closer to take it in, narrowing her eyes at it. She gawked at Yang. “ _Dude_.”

Nodding silently, Yang grinned at her. “Hurts, doesn’t it.”

“What did I ever do to you?”

“Draw four, Blake.”

War ensued. Awhile later, Weiss had one win, Ruby had two, Yang had two, and Blake had four. By then it was softly raining, and the girls decided to head inside.

The warmth of the cottage welcomed them, sheltering them from the cold air and rain drops. Taiyang was setting mugs of hot chocolate on the dining room table, next to cases of tiny marshmallows. He looked up at the girls and stepped out of the way.

“Hey girls, thought you’d just shower outside?” he joked.

“It wasn’t raining that hard,” Ruby replied. They all thanked him for the hot chocolate. Sipping from her mug, Ruby thought of some fun ways to spend the rest of the night. “So I was thinking we could watch a movie now that it’s too wet outside.”

The others nodded in approval. Yang made a suggestion. “I cast my vote for a scary movie,” she announced confidently. Her eyes went to Blake who nodded blankly at the idea.

“Sounds good to me,” Blake said. “I have a recommendation actually.”

Yang raised her eyebrows, a smile still painted on her face. “Oh. Oh you have… you’re interested in one? For us to watch already?”

“Yeah. I haven’t seen it but I heard it’s creepy.”

“Ah. So you’re like excited to see that, huh.” In her mind, Yang rapidly went backwards on her plan to comfort Blake during a scary movie. She hadn’t anticipated that maybe Blake wouldn’t need an arm around her shoulders. 

Ruby took a moment to respond, but when she did, it was with steady agreement. “We can do a scary movie.”

Weiss’s heart stopped for a moment. She nodded quickly and put on a look of approval. “That’s fine,” she said. Thanks a lot, Yang. 

Four hot chocolates and four freshly popped bags of popcorn later, everyone was downstairs in the basement. Dim yellow lamp lights lit the area. Yang and Weiss emptied the popcorn bags into two big bowls while Blake opened Netflix and found her creepy movie. Weiss watched. 

“So what is this rated?” Weiss asked.

“Um, R,” Blake answered. 

Ruby entered from the hallway with fuzzy blankets and dispersed them to her friends. She plopped down on the couch next to Yang, and was soon joined by Weiss. She shared a blanket and popcorn bowl with Ruby. The lights went out except for the glowing screen. Weiss tensed. Blake hit play. The screen darkened, leaving the room black. 

The movie began on a light note, but Weiss couldn’t relax. While Yang made a quiet comment or two, with Blake and Ruby answering, Weiss silently kept her eyes glued to the screen. 

As the plot thickened, Yang commented, “You know, this isn’t as scary as Blake’s story.” This received a laugh from Ruby and Blake. Ruby glanced at Weiss, and her smile fell. She considered giving her a comforting touch, but Weiss didn’t like to be patronized. She’d say she wasn’t scared. Ruby shifted closer, leaning on her until her head touched Weiss’s shoulder. 

Weiss gave a short, subtle sigh. Maybe she’d appreciate this moment more if she wasn’t scared stiff. She whispered to Ruby, “Are you scared?”

Ruby shrugged and smiled. “Maybe a little,” she said.

Cautiously, Weiss placed her free hand on Ruby’s arm. Emotion swirled around inside her, tearing her up and eating at her heart. She was as excited about Ruby’s affection as she was tense about the suspense of the movie. Her hand began to tremble.

All of a sudden, a bloody, grotesque clown face appeared on the screen and Weiss screeched, burying her face in Ruby’s shoulder. Ruby made a noise that combined both laughter and cries of terror. Blake had Yang in her embrace. She had jumped slightly but remained silent. Yang clung to her.

“Ruby stop laughing, you’re killing the mood,” Blake complained with a grin.

“The only person killing anything is that CLOWN,” Ruby protested, ignoring Blake’s complaint. 

When the movie ended, Weiss let out a sigh of relief. “Well thanks a lot Blake, we’re all going to have nightmares now.”

“Not if we take our minds off of it with something fun,” Ruby countered. 

Weiss was still cuddled up to her. “What did you have in mind?” she asked. Yang turned on the lamps.

Ruby smirked. “I was thinking maybe another few rounds of uno?”

Weiss’s face crinkled with displeasure. “Hard pass.”

Blake got up and stretched. “I’m gonna put pajamas on.”

“Me too,” Yang said.

This left Weiss and Ruby alone on the couch. Weiss slowly sat up, prompting Ruby to do the same. Awkwardly fidgeting with the blanket’s fringes, Weiss said, “Could you tell that I was scared? Is that why you… uh, got closer.”

With a shy smile, Ruby nodded. “I didn’t want to embarrass you, but I wanted you to feel safe.”

Weiss returned her smile. “Thanks.”

Ruby studied her in silence for a moment. “You know, if you don’t like scary movies, we can watch other stuff. I personally enjoy romcoms,” she added.

Weiss shrugged it off. “It’s fine,” she claimed, “but I guess I wouldn’t mind a romcom for next time.”

“Sooo,” Ruby playfully poked Weiss’s arm, “if you don’t want to play Uno, then what do you think we should do.”

Weiss attempted to seize Ruby’s finger, but it became a game for Ruby to avoid her grasp. “I don’t know, Ruby, oh my goodness, stop.”

“Like actually stop orrr…” 

Weiss poked her back with determination. “How do you like that, hm? Doesn’t feel too good does it.”

Ruby beamed, barely able to contain her laughter. “I don’t know what you’re talking about dude.”

“Don’t call me dude, I’ll poke you harder just for that.” 

Ruby giggled, trying and failing to block Weiss’s jabs. “Weiss! Nooooo,” Ruby complained. She laughed so much that she allowed herself to fall on the couch, eventually melting off of it and onto the carpet.   
Weiss was set on continuing to poke her but had to pause so that she could laugh at her. She then attacked Ruby with more poking. In an attempt to block her, Weiss panicked and pushed her fingers into Ruby’s sides. 

Ruby yelped and laughed, attempting to roll away. “Weiss!” She was laughing so hard that tears had begun to trickle down her cheeks. “Stop, for real!”

In a bedroom down the hallway, Yang had just finished changing. All she could hear were Ruby’s muffled cries. Yang just stood awkwardly by the door, wondering what they could possibly be up to. Blake knocked at the door, and Yang opened it with a look of curiosity. 

Weiss surrendered and fell on the floor beside Ruby, the two of them giggling to no end. They found themselves at a loss for an explanation when Yang and Blake appeared.


	8. Sensitive Subject

The droning of faroff speedboats faded into Blake’s consciousness. Still groggy, she opened her eyes and found herself looking up at bunches of green leaves. It was the perfect weather for sleeping out in the hammock. Although, that’s not what she had meant to do.

Blake turned her head towards Yang, who was still sleeping next to her. Her arm was draped over Blake’s stomach. Blake smiled. She wondered if Yang would be embarrassed if she woke up in that position. Not that Yang wasn’t a touchy-feely kind of person. It was more about vulnerability. Blake continued to just look at her. She looked peaceful while she slept.

A plop plop plop on the wooden stairs signaled Ruby heading to the backyard. She was holding a piece of paper. Weiss was trailing behind her, not bothering to exit the steps. Ruby on the other hand walked up to the hammock, readying her pen and paper.

Her huge smile suggested stifled laughter. “Wakey wakey, Yang and Blakey,” she said, giggling. Yang didn’t wake up. Blake was happy about that, but didn’t know why.

“We fell asleep,” Blake explained. “She’s still out.”

“I figured you’d fall asleep, heck, you were talking for so long. Anyway, Weiss and I are going with Qrow to get ice cream. I’m in charge of taking orders, but I guess I’ll have to choose for Yang.” Ruby tapped her pen against her cheek in thought. She scribbled something down and then looked up at Blake expectantly. “What’ll it be?”

“Oh, uhh… could I have… something cookies and cream?” Suddenly Blake remembered that Yang was sleeping and lowered her voice. “Maybe an oreo flurry?”

“Sure,” Ruby said. “Alright, I’ll bring it back.” 

“Thanks.”

With that, Ruby was off. Blake relaxed again, letting her head fall on Yang’s. This was nice. But something indescribable was stirring within her. Maybe something was on the verge of surfacing. Blake felt… something. About Yang. It was weird. It was a little scary. It made her head spin.

Yang stirred, removing her arm to stretch it above her head. She yawned and slowly opened her eyes. Gradually she realized that Blake was there. “Oh, hey,” she said, her voice quiet and sleepy.

“Hey.”

“Dude, how long was I out?”

“Hard to say. I was out too.”

Yang laughed and nudged her. “Well you’re no help.” She gazed at the treetops for a second before reaching up and pushing herself out of the hammock with some difficulty. Blake laughed a little, but stopped laughing when she almost fell out. Yang laughed at her and helped her to the ground. 

Scanning the area, Yang asked, “Where are Weiss and Ruby?”

“They went to go get ice cream somewhere. I’m not sure what they’re getting you. You were sleeping.”

Yang shrugged. “Meh. Ruby knows what I like.”

“What do you like?”

 

Qrow pulled into the parking lot of the ice cream shack and followed the girls inside. “Now wait just five seconds Ruby, I don’t know what I want yet.”

Ruby removed herself from the short line and crossed her arms. “That’s such BS, you know you want cookie dough.”

Weiss raised an eyebrow at Ruby, then gave Qrow a questioning look. 

Qrow’s eyes were wider for a second, but then he just laughed. “What are you, some kind of stalker. Some kind of mind reader?”

Ruby whispered, “You always get cookie dough.”

“Now _that’s_ BS. Last time I got chocolate. You don’t know everything.” Looking pensively at the menu, Qrow silently nodded. “Yeah alright. I know what I’ll get. You got everyone else’s?”

Ruby waved the paper. She looked at Weiss. “What’re you getting?” 

“Vanilla.”

Ruby smiled. “That’s what I would have guessed for you.”

“What about you?”

“Chocolate cherry,” Ruby proudly announced. “I guess we’re ready to order.” She took out her list and read all the flavors. Then she stepped aside for Qrow.

“Last one,” Qrow promised the cashier. “I’ll have two scoops of cookie dough.”

“HA!” Ruby exclaimed, pointing a finger at him.

“You guys are so weird,” Weiss said. But she was smiling. 

Before they could leave, Ruby said she had to use the bathroom, despite Qrow’s, “You can’t wait like five minutes in the car?” So she went to the bathroom, leaving Weiss and Qrow alone. Cool.

Weiss kept her arms glued to her sides and her eyes on the floor, or on anything that wasn’t Qrow. Maybe he wouldn’t talk to her. “So,” Qrow began. Alright, maybe he would. “How’s your sister been?”

“Oh, she’s okay. Pretty busy, you know.”

“Right, right.”

More silence. 

“Did you order vanilla?” 

“Why… yes I did. Is that interesting to you?”

Qrow half laughed. “I’m just messing with you. It’s funny.”

“Why?”

“That’s just such a bland thing to order.”

“Maybe I like vanilla?” She looked up at Qrow now, her hands on her hips. “Maybe you should mind your own business,” she joked.

Qrow just looked at her quizzically. “Your choice in ice cream flavor may be extremely boring, but you yourself are an interesting person. You know that?”

Weiss lowered her hands, shrinking slightly but maintaining eye contact. “What makes you say something like that?”

“You’re close with Ruby. And she’s _interesting_ ,” Qrow said. Weiss tilted her head, her lips pursing slightly. “I mean that in a nice way,” Qrow assured her. He had his hands up as if Weiss were going to hit him. “I’m just saying, Ruby really likes you and all that. I’m just making sure that her friends are… cool.” He grinned.

“Was that… meant to be a pun?”

“Maybe.”

Suddenly Ruby appeared and began to lead them towards the door. Qrow commented that if they’d waited any longer, the ice cream would have melted. They walked out with six cups and somehow got situated in Qrow’s car with all of those cups intact. 

When they got back, they saw Blake and Yang on the steps. Ruby kicked the door open and presented Yang’s cup by stretching her arm out of the car. Yang went up to her and accepted the treat.

“Well?” Blake said. “Was it what you wanted?”

“Yep!” Yang replied, licking the spoon. “Chocolate brownie. Also would have accepted mint chocolate chip.”

“Sweet.”

“It really is,” Yang expressed, with a mouth full of ice cream. Blake thaked Weiss for her Oreo flurry. 

Yang and Blake headed inside. Ruby and Weiss followed but soon reappeared in their swimsuits. They took their ice cream down to the dock. 

“So how did…” Ruby started to say something but stopped to take in the sheer amount of sunscreen Weiss was pouring on herself. “Wow.”

“Wow what?”

“That’s a lot of sunscreen.”

“I have a lot of skin.”

“That sounds weird Weiss. Who says things like that?” Ruby commented, laughing. “I was gonna say, how did your bonding time with my Uncle Qrow go?”

“Oh yeah! About that,” Weiss said. She promptly flipped Ruby off.

Ruby’s jaw dropped but there was still a hint of a smile in her expression. “WOW Weiss. You must really hate him!” She was laughing again. Weiss couldn’t help but laugh with her.

“I don’t Ruby, it’s just awkward. And you totally set that up on purpose didn’t you.”

“Maybe.”

“Dang it Ruby.” Meanwhile Weiss was attempting to rub lotion across her back with the tips of her fingers.

“Uh Weiss, do you want help with that?”

Weiss sighed, drooping slightly. She handed the bottle of lotion to Ruby and sat on a chair. Ruby began to gently but thoroughly work the lotion around Weiss’s back.

“See, I like to use the spray stuff. You just spray it right on,” Ruby told her.

“That stuff never works. So it makes sense now why you’re burned.”

“I’m not burned. You’re burned.”

“I am slightly red, which I think is pretty good for someone as pale as I am.”

“You are very pale,” Ruby agreed. She thought about that while moving her hands across Weiss’s skin. Very pale. Like porcelain. Soft and smooth too. She realized she was taking a long time and removed her hands, wiping the rest on Weiss’s arms. Ruby noted how toned Weiss’s muscles were.

“Thanks,” Weiss said. She stared at her feet.”Hey Ruby?”

“Hey Weiss.”

“Do you think… well… I don’t know. I’m… interesting. Right?”

Ruby searched Weiss’s faces for a map to the origin of her question. She sat on the chair across from Weiss. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Why?” Ruby echoed.

“Why am I interesting?”

“Oh.” Ruby stared up at the sky. “Would you like that answer in the form of a novel?” Weiss chuckled, but it was a quiet, nervous sort of laugh. Ruby tilted her head until Weiss looked back up at her. “Do you think you’re not interesting?”

Weiss considered that. “I guess I wonder why someone like you would like someone like me.”

“But Weiss, I don’t know why you’d say something like that. You’re a fantastic friend.” Ruby looked her in the eye. “You’re important to me.” Her face began to burn, maybe not just because of the sun. “I don’t like when you think bad things about yourself. To me… you’re fascinating.” Her fists were clenched at her sides. 

Weiss was in awe. She took Ruby’s hands in hers. “That means a lot,” she said. “Do you really mean that?”

Ruby averted her eyes. “Yes. Of course,” she answered quietly.

Weiss stood up, unsure of what else to do. She moved her ice cream cup closer to her towel so that it wouldn’t blow away. Ruby watched her quietly. 

“Want to swim?” Ruby asked.

“Just one second,” Weiss answered. She reached into her bag and produced a second bottle of sunscreen. She shook it, held her free arm out, and began to spray the lotion. Ruby burst out laughing. “Oh shut up,” Weiss mumbled. She laughed too. “You know I have issues with the sun.”

“You definitely have issues,” Ruby repeated through laughter. 

“A tasteless joke. Zero stars. Now can we wait until my lotion soaks in?”

Ruby sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Okay.”


	9. You Love Her, You Love Her

Yang licked chocolate brownie ice cream from her spoon as she traveled downstairs with Blake. The strolled down the carpeted steps and each took a seat on the couch, the same spot where they had watched the movie last night. She handed Blake the remote and looked outside. Ruby and Weiss were heading towards the dock.

“I think it’s pretty funny,” Blake was saying as she flipped through Netflix shows. “It’s weird but entertaining.” She noticed Yang looking out the window and turned her head. She smiled, thinking of her conversation with Weiss. But that reminded her of something else. While giving Weiss advice that day, she had stumbled into her own mystery: her relationship with Yang.

Blake thought of the day she and Yang were talking in the boat. _Do you think you’ll date again soon?_

“So what’s the show?” Yang asked.

“Oh, here it is.”

Taking another bite of ice cream, Yang squinted at the TV. “This looks like it’s for kids.”

“Yeah, it is,” Blake answered with a laugh. “It’s funny though. You’ll see.”

“Well okay then.”

Yang watched the screen. Blake watched Yang. “Hey,” Blake said, “is that chocolate… what is it?”

“Chocolate brownie.”

“Is it good?”

“It sure is. You want a taste?”

“Okay.” Blake looked at her cup. “Wanna try mine?”

Yang knew very well what Blake’s ice cream tasted like. “Sure,” she said. The girls each took a spoonful of their ice cream and looked at each other. Yang lifted her spoon towards Blake’s mouth. “Choo choooo.”

Blake laughed and shook her head, lifting her hand to block the spoon. “I’m not a baby Yang.”

“No?” Yang giggled. “We’re watching your baby shows.”

“It’s not for babies.”

“Barbie Dreamhouse is not for babies?”

“Okay it’s called Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse, and we’re only watching it ironically.”

With a dramatic sigh, Yang threw her head back. “Alright alright, just eat this ice cream.”

Blake held Yang’s wrist and brought forward the spoon that was still in her grip. She tasted the ice cream and nodded in approval. Then blake took her own spoon and lifted it up to Yang. “Okay, here comes the plane.”

Yang snickered. “Shut up Blake.”

The two settled into watching this show that Blake insisted was funny. As a matter of fact, Yang did laugh at a few things. Blake even teased her about getting too invested in the characters. All the while, in the back of Blake’s head, she knew there was something she wanted to say. But she didn’t know how to say it. After about an hour of watching the show, she offered to take their trash upstairs.

The empty cups in her hands, Blake walked back upstairs and into the kitchen. When she threw the cups away, she noticed Ruby come in from outside. Ruby went to the fridge and pulled out two water bottles, then started opening drawers.

“Are you looking for something?” Blake asked.

Ruby sighed and shut the drawer. She turned to Blake, her eyes bright with perplexion. “I’m looking for answers, Blake.”

Blake’s forehead creased. She had opened her mouth to say something, but she’d forgotten it. Then she laughed and crossed her arms. “Are you gonna find that in the kitchen drawers or…”

“Gah, sorry Blake,” Ruby apologized, laughing to herself. “I was talking to Weiss.”

“Weiss can be confusing sometimes.”

“It’s not… well…” Ruby looked at the ceiling like she was searching for the rest of her sentence. “Yeah, I don’t know.” She glanced at the drawer. “I was looking for a marker to label the bottles.”

“Ah.” They stood there like that for a second, silent and confused. Blake’s eyes fell on the staircase, then on Ruby. “Is everything okay?”

Ruby’s hands were pressed against her face, slowly drooping down her cheeks. “Yes.” Blake raised her eyebrows. “Well, okay, actually… I’m just thinking about a lot of stuff okay.”

“Weiss stuff?”

Ruby stepped back. “What do you mean Weiss stuff?”

“You said Weiss was being confusing.”

“Oh. Yeah. I think I should get this water to her.” Ruby grabbed the water bottles and left without waiting for a reply. Blake stared at the door for a moment before heading back downstairs. She smiled when she realized Yang was laughing at the show again. “You like it don’t you.”

Yang jumped, but when she looked at Blake she just kept laughing. “It’s not bad I guess.” Blake reclaimed her seat on the couch. Yang studied her. “Was that Ruby upstairs? I heard her sighing and complaining.”

Blake grinned and nodded. “Yeah. She was uh… she was getting water for her and Weiss.”

“What was she complaining about? Probably how hot it is. Our ice cream was gonna melt out there.”

“Nah, it wasn’t that,” Blake said. “She seemed kinda off, but she wouldn’t tell me what’s up.”

“Oh.” Yang was looking at the TV but Blake could tell that her thoughts were on Ruby. “You know, now that I think about it, she was outside a few nights ago. Said she had some things on her mind, but she never actually told me what they were.”

Blake searched her memory. “When was that?”

“Oh uh, it was… it was like probably two in the morning. You and Weiss were sleeping.”

“You were up at two in the morning?”

“Yeah.” Yang averted her eyes. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Seems like we all have things on our minds.”

Yang paused the show and looked back at her. “Do you?”

Blake stared at her, taking her in. She felt like she must have looked mad, but she was really just thinking about everything. About Weiss. About Ruby. About her and Yang. “Kind of,” Blake said. “I think I’m like Ruby though, honestly. I don’t know how to… talk about it?”

Yang twirled her hair as she considered that. Her face was relaxed but her eyes were determined and curious. “Maybe we should have a group therapy session.” It was partly a joke. Partly not.

“I don’t think that will work,” Blake said. She thought of Weiss. “Ruby said she has something bothering her that has to do with Weiss. Sounds like something… maybe… we wouldn’t understand.”

Leaning forward, Yang gave Blake her full attention. “Like… like what?”

“Uh I, well…” Flustered, Blake searched for words. “I’m not sure. It’s between them.”

Yang rested her head against the couch, keeping her eyes on Blake. “Okay.” Blake wasn’t sure how much eye contact to make. She was busy hoping that she wouldn’t let Weiss’s secret leave her lips.

“What about you?” Yang asked.

Blake shifted in her seat, slightly inching away from Yang. “What about me?”

“You’re having trouble with something.”

“I just said I had things on my mind.”

“Alright, but I can tell that those things are bothering you.” Now she smiled. “Yang knows all,” she proclaimed.

“Does the all mighty Yang know what’s on _her_ mind?” Blake teased.

Yang dropped the smile. “Yeah.” She blankly faced her expectant friend. “I’m not gonna say what it is though, so don’t even ask.” Her glare softened. “O-Okay?”

“Okay okay, I won’t if that’s how you feel.” Blake tilted her head and gave Yang a sympathetic look. “Can I just say one thing?”

Yang’s gaze traveled to the ceiling. She sat there leaning on the couch, now with her chin in her hand, as if she had all the time in the world to think about it. Then she nodded and returned to Earth. “Okay,” she agreed.

“You’re…” Blake blushed, which captured Yang’s interest. “You’re important to me,” Blake said softly. “I’d hope that I could be the one you feel comfortable confiding in… but… I don’t want to push you too much. So…”

This was too intimate. Yang turned away suddenly, almost burying her face in the couch. Her heart pounded furiously in her chest. Jumbled thoughts that had already cluttered her mind began to swim around inside her, taunting her. _You love her, you love her, you love her._

_No._

Blake’s voice melted her thoughts. “Just let me know if I can do anything for you.”

Fear and longing filled Yang’s eyes. “I…”

“You look upset.” Blake leaned in to study her face.

“There’s something,” Yang said. “But I don’t know if you’ll like it or not. You might hate it actually.” She laughed to herself a little. “You might hate _me_.”

Blake gaped at her, a spark of terror in her heart with every word Yang spoke. 

“But I…”

“Yang?”

Her face was close. Close enough. Yang sat up and lightly placed Blake’s face in her hands. She brought her closer and pressed her lips to Blake’s. 

Before Blake knew it, she was kissing her friend. Yang was kissing her. Electric heat surged through her body. Every doubt in her head evaporated into nothing but love for her best friend. For Yang. 

Slowly Yang pulled away and for a terrifying few seconds, the two stared at each other. Blake’s hands found Yang’s waist as she leaned in for more. More of Yang. More of her soft touch and fiery passion. _I love you_. That was all Blake could think now.

_I love you, I love you, I love you._


	10. A Cry for Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy sorry for the late update! This weekend I was celebrating my birthday as well as my sister's. I'll be updating as usual now. 
> 
> Thanks for all your comments and kudos :^)

That evening, when the sky was just turning pink, Ruby and Qrow were starting a bonfire. Ruby collected pieces of wood while Qrow leaned over the ashes positioning some logs. They worked in silence for a while. Any attempt Qrow made to chat with Ruby fell flat. He stood up and watched her collect branches. 

Ruby tossed the sticks in the fire and was on her way to get more when she noticed Qrow staring at her. “Uh, what is it Uncle Qrow?” Ruby asked. She noticed a twig at her feet and began to bend over, but Qrow threw an arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer. “Ack!”

“Oh I was just enjoying the quiet,” Qrow told her, a small grin on his face. “It’s been what, five minutes since you said something? That must be some kind of record.”

Ruby scowled and playfully shoved Qrow away. “I don’t talk that much,” she claimed. 

“Well I’m a little surprised,” he said. Qrow paused, shoving his hands in his pockets. “So what is it?” he inquired.

“What is _what_?” Ruby rolled her eyes. “Everything’s fine okay. Are you gonna start the fire or can I do it?”

“I don’t think I suggested otherwise. _Is_ something wrong?”

Ruby placed her hands on her hips and shot Qrow an accusatory look. “You did so! You’re interrogating me.” She folded her arms and waited for him to retort. 

Qrow silently walked over to the swingset, chose a swing as his seat despite being too tall for it, and motioned for Ruby to join him. Nervously, Ruby sat beside him on the empty swing. “Well listen kid, I already know something’s up.”

“What do you mean? I told you…” 

“Weiss talked to me today.”

Ruby’s heart stopped. “What? What did she say?”

 

_A few hours earlier…_

 

On her way down the stairs with the two water bottles in her hands, Ruby stopped as Weiss approached her. “Got you some water,” Ruby said.

“Thanks.” Weiss took it. “I was just coming up to ask if you wanted to go on the golf cart.”

“Sure.” Ruby stepped aside. “After you,” she said with a smile.

Weiss curtsied in her sundress and laughed as she passed Ruby, who watched quietly as Weiss tied her hair in a bun. When she looked back at Ruby in the shade, the sunburn on her face was undeniably tomato red. Ruby had to laugh as she followed.

Weiss spun around. “What?”

“It’s like the sun beat your face up.”

“Oh hush.” Weiss stormed off to the garage. When Ruby got there, she had her arms crossed in the passenger seat.

“Are you mad because I called you a tomato.” Ruby hopped into the cart and turned the keys.

“Uh… hey! You didn’t until now.”

Grinning, Ruby shrugged. “Oh, oops. Guess I just thought it.” She turned out of the driveway and down the street. After a few minutes she looked at her scroll where it rested in one of the cupholders. “Hm… should we invite Yang and Blake?”

Weiss looked at the scroll. “I’m sure they’re watching a movie or something. How about after dinner.”

Ruby nodded, her grip tightening on the wheel. The wind whipping her hair around wasn’t distracting enough to silence her worries. It had never been like this before. What was bothering her so much? It’s just Weiss. It was just Weiss. 

She knew Weiss. They were best friends. Dare she say she even knew that Weiss liked her. Liked her like _that_. Maybe that’s what it was. Knowing that Weiss was confident about her feelings when on the other hand, Ruby was falling apart. Why did…

“Ruby you’ve been oddly quiet.”

Ruby stared straight ahead. “Just thinking,” she said.

Weiss looked up. “Well while you’re think, do you notice when a car is coming.” Ruby said nothing. “Ruby are you… Ruby.” A loud rude honk startled the two of them. Ruby’s eyes widened and she slowly began to move the wheel. 

“Ruby!” 

Weiss yanked the wheel and the cart swerved into an open grassy area. She was still holding it during their bumpy detour and even after Ruby slammed the breaks. They sat that way, staring at a house in the distance and all the grass ahead. Ruby released a shaky sigh. 

It really wouldn’t have been that bad. The car saw them. It was going to slow down. Yet she didn’t even see it. Now Weiss was confused.

“I uh…” Ruby began. Her eyes were fixed on her feet. Weiss didn’t say anything, but Ruby could tell that she was disturbed. “Well first… I’m sorry.”

“You…” Weiss began in a harsh tone, but she didn’t finish. She looked at Ruby and relaxed a little. “Is something wrong? That you want to talk about?”

“No Weiss. I’m just having an off day. No reason.”

Weiss gazed at her for a while. “Really?”

“Really.”

Weiss exhaled. “Okay,” she said cautiously. “Well… no offense, but can I take a turn driving?”

This made Ruby smile just a little. “Do you know how?”

“Do I know how,” Weiss parroted. She shifted towards Ruby who got out and walked around the cart and sat in Weiss’s old spot. “There are literally just two pedals and a steering wheel.” She looked at Ruby who gave her a look of entertainment and resignation. 

“Okay then, let’s see. I believe in you.” Weiss pushed the gas pedal and jumped at the following horrible clanking sound. Ruby laughed. “That’s just because I locked the breaks.” 

“Ohhhh okay thank you for letting me know afterwards.”

Ruby tried to relax as she and Weiss jerked forward towards the road. Somehow Weiss made things complicated while also being comforting about it. 

The drove around for some time until they were more at ease. Then Weiss drove them back and let Ruby park. Yang was just exiting the cottage with Blake and Taiyang. She was glowing with Blake trailing awkwardly behind her. Yang stepped down and called over to them.

“We need stuff at the store, anyone wanna tag along?”

“No thanks,” Weiss declined. She headed into the cottage. Next was Ruby.

“What about you, Roomba?”

“I’ll go if you don’t call me Roomba again!”

From inside the cottage, Weiss gazed at Ruby out the window as she got in the car and left. She turned to face the back of the cottage and watched the lake. Her focus shifted to one of the chairs on the deck in front of the window. There sat Qrow, looking out at the water by himself. 

Weiss studied him for a moment from the privacy of the cottage. She didn’t really understand Qrow or necessarily feel confident keeping up a conversation with him. But Ruby loved him. And he loved Ruby. Did he know something? 

She shook her head and walked out the door towards the deck. When she turned the corner, Qrow rotated in his chair. “Oh,” he said. “Thought you went to the store.”

“No,” Weiss said. Doubts popped up about the conversation she was about to have, but she elected to ignore them as she took a seat a foot away from Qrow. 

“Are you so bored now that you decided to sit by me?”

“Ha ha. Actually, I want to ask you about something.”

Qrow examined her, not sure whether or not to be concerned. “Okay,” he said. “What’s up?”

Weiss fidgeted as she watched some boats pass. “Do you know if something is going on with Ruby?” 

This piqued Qrow’s interest. His eyes wandered away from the lake. Then he turned back to Weiss. “Why do you ask?”

They watched Zwei run around in the yard, barking at a dog nextdoor. Neither of them bothered to call down to him. 

“She’s been acting kind of strange. And she won’t talk about it. When we went out on the golf cart today… she… well she just seemed really distracted.” 

Qrow nodded, deep in thought. “That’s… interesting. I guess she’s been acting sort of strange.” 

Weiss looked away. Should she have just texted Blake instead? Was this too much? No. If Ruby wouldn’t tell her what was wrong, she wouldn’t tell Blake. Maybe not even Yang. There was no time to waste.

“I’ll see if I can get her to talk.”

 

That night with Qrow at her side, Ruby listened to the truth about Weiss’s concerns. Qrow told her about the conversation on the deck. And the things that happened after that.

The story of her worried friends unfolded before her. “After that,” Qrow continued, “you all got back from the store. You went into the cottage with your dad, but I pulled Yang and Blake aside.”

 

The car doors slammed shut one by one as the trunk popped open. Ruby grabbed four bags, as did Taiyang. Yang and Blake grabbed the remaining two and shut the trunk. As they headed towards the cottage, they talked.

“So…” Yang said.

“Nice conversation starter.”

“I… thanks haha. So how long do you think we’re gonna keep this to ourselves?”

“Oh, about that…” Blake paused and watched as Qrow walked towards them. Yang gave her a questioning look for a moment but turned her attention to Qrow.

“Hey guys,” Qrow said. He lingered like he wanted something. “A word?”

Yang and Blake exchanged looks of stifled terror. Does he know? How the hell could he know. But does he? They watched him walk over to the golf cart and followed.

He didn’t drive, he just sat there. “Look, I’ll be quick,” he said. “A certain somebody told me that Ruby’s been acting weird. You two know anything about that?”

It wasn’t what Yang and Blake had expected at all. There was some relief in knowing that Qrow didn’t realize they were together. But now something was up with Ruby.

“Actually,” Blake answered, “I did notice her acting weird. She said she was confused about Weiss, but I didn’t know what she meant really… except well… I mean… I might have an idea.” She hung her head in contemplation.

“Yeah,” Yang agreed, “I guess there was the night that she was up super late thinking about something and she wouldn’t tell me what it was.”

Before Qrow could ask another question, Blake dropped some important information. “I found out that Weiss has a crush on Ruby.” Yang’s jaw dropped. “Maybe something happened.”

Satisfied with this information, Qrow thanked them. When he heard the front door open, he looked at the girls. “I was never here,” he said. Then he transformed and scurried out the front of the garage. Yang and Blake stared at each other.

“Oh,” Yang said. “Hope she’s okay.”

“Yeah.”

They sat in the garage and waved as Ruby entered asking for the groceries. She took the bags inside and left the girls alone again.

“I was gonna tell you something,” Blake spoke up. “I know that Weiss has feelings for Ruby because I told her that I liked you first.”

“Oh okay. Cool. Maybe we could tell everyone after we find out what’s up with Ruby.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

They were sitting next to each other on the back of the cart. Yang glanced at Blake. She was wearing a black and white striped tank top. Yang bent down and kissed her shoulder. Blake gasped, looked down, and giggled. Blushing, Yang laughed too. She put her arm around Blake and gave her small kisses. Then they just held hands for a while as they talked. It was all so new and wonderful.

 

Ruby stared at the sand. “They sold me out,” she said with a meek laugh.

“You know that’s not what it was like.”

Ruby groaned and leaned back onto her swing, partially suspending herself in the air with her arms out. “Uncle Qrow, feelings suck.” That got her a laugh out of Qrow.

“Can’t argue with you there.”

“I just… I mean geez, sorry if I don’t always know what I’m feeling. It’s not a big deal. I just can’t take everybody nagging me to spill the beans. I’ll spill my beans as I please, thank you very much.”

“So what do you think about what Blake said?”

“What Blake said? I… oh. Yeah. I… I kinda knew already. I mean I didn’t know for sure, but I knew.”

“Then then the problem is your answer to that.”

“I mean… yeah. I don’t know… I just… I need to think about it still. It’s just scary I guess?”

“Hey you said it yourself, feelings are a pain in the ass.”

“I don’t think that’s exactly what I said, but yeah.” 

“Maybe you should let your friends know that you’re not dying or something. Just a thought.”

“Yeaaaaah I guess so.” 

They watched a family pass by on the lake, each person standing on a board and using a paddle to push forward. Ruby glanced at Qrow. “I think we should get some of those boards and do that together.”

“You think I could do that?”

“Yeah you’re right, you’d fall instantly.”

“Wow alright, guess I’d better leave now that I know you don’t believe in me.” He caught sight of the fire, which Taiyang was tending to now. “Looks good Tai.”

Ruby spent a few more minutes alone on the swings. She swayed calmly as she explored her thoughts. Maybe Qrow was right. She’d have to tell the others about her feelings. But what would she say? She turned at the sound of people exiting the cottage to attend the fire. Weiss appeared alongside Blake.

What would she tell Weiss?


	11. Not So Scary

It was that time of night where people headed into the cottage to get ready for bed. Ruby and Weiss gathered their things and went to go change into pajamas. Yang and Blake were already in pajamas as they watched the burning coals from their spot on a blanket. Crickets serenaded them. The yard was lit only by the dim windows of the cottage and a couple torches to keep bugs away.

“Whatcha thinkin about?” Yang asked. She had been watching Blake stare silently at the coals.

Their eyes met and Blake smiled. “I was just thinking about… you know.”

“I do not know.”

Blake’s face reddened. She responded with a nervous laugh. Yang beamed, shuffling closer to her. “You know, the kiss… and stuff.”

Yang raised her eyebrows. “I don’t remember any stuff after the kiss,” she joked. Flustered, Blake complained about Yang’s interpretations. “But I mean, if you want, maybe later we could… _you know_.”

“Stop!” Blake shoved her laughed. Yang giddily took the hit. They calmed down, and Blake began to reflect again. “I was afraid.”

“Wh-What, when I kissed you?” Yang gently placed her hand on Blake’s waist.

“Yeah. I could sort of see it coming, but I didn’t know what to do. Even before that, I had been thinking about… well, the two of us.” She timidly leaned into Yang, contently resting her head on her shoulder. Yang kissed her head. “Thanks for kissing my hair,” Blake mumbled.

“Haha, any time.” Yang gazed at the swing set for no particular reason, just thinking back on all the memories she had involving this place. She remembered coming here and wondering what kind of people she would invite to join her someday. Pretty soon that vague future mystery person morphed into Blake. _Blake would love this. I wish she could be here._

By the time Blake had moved into Yang’s heart, Yang was scrolling through her social media feed and pausing on pictures of Blake and Sun. They were dating. Maybe Blake could still see the cottage someday, but not as her girlfriend. Not as her wife. 

Things were different now.

“What are _you_ thinking about?” Blake’s voice summoned Yang back to the present.

“Oh. I was just thinking…” Yang smiled and held Blake tighter. “... you brought my daydreams back to life.”

 

A few hours later, Weiss found herself staring at the trees out the screen of her tent. She didn’t remember falling asleep, but she knew time had passed because now Ruby was missing. She thought of the talk she’d had with Yang.

Yesterday, Yang had snuck up on her while Ruby was in the other room. She tapped on Weiss’s shoulder and motioned for her to come outside. Although Weiss was confused, she followed Yang out the door. 

Yang waited until they were a few steps away from the house to ask Weiss if she wanted to go for a golf cart ride. Weiss shrugged and accepted.

“Is there a reason you wanted to go with just me?” Weiss inquired. 

Yang was driving, loosely steering the wheel with one hand. “Oh, we’re gonna go back for Blake in a sec.” She chuckled and adjusted her shades. “She takes forever.” 

As promised, Yang circled around the neighborhood and back to the cottage where Blake was waiting. Yang brought her sunglasses down to look Blake in the eye. “Hello pretty lady, your uber’s here.”

Weiss had to think about that tone shift to make sure she’d heard Yang correctly. She turned her attention to Blake, who just smiled and said hi. She sat in the back, which pointed towards the road behind them, but she turned to face the same direction as Weiss and Yang. Then they were off.

“We have an announcement,” Blake said.

Weiss looked between the two of them. They didn’t… they’re not… are they? No way. She saw how excited Yang and Blake were. Their smiles stretched from ear to ear. There was something different in the air that lightened everyone’s mood. Yang and Blake exchanged eager looks. They asked each other who wanted to say it. To Weiss it would have been corny, but she couldn’t help feeling happy for her friends.

“We’re dating!” They said it in unison and giggled.

“Good lord, finally,” Weiss jested. Yang laughed and called Ruby a snitch, which made Blake laugh. Honestly Weiss and Ruby had talked about it, but even beforehand, the chemistry between Yang and Blake was obvious. “Congrats guys.” 

“Aw thanks.”

Blake changed the subject. “So are we going to talk about what Qrow said or…”

Weiss’s eyes darted to Blake. “Qrow? What do you mean?”

Blake pursed her lips and looked to Yang for help. “Oh,” Yang said. “Yeah, so Qrow came and talked to us after we got back from the store. He said you talked to him about Rubes.”

“He did, did he?”

“Yep. So now we’re all in the loop.”

“Except Ruby,” Blake commented.

“Well, yeah. Which is what we’re gonna fix. Somehow.” Yang made a sharp turn into the next cul de sac despite complaints from the others. “Man I wish I had pushed her more to open up that one night.”

“You can’t always push someone to do that,” Blake said.

“What night?” Weiss asked.

“This one night, I found her sitting on the dock at two or three in the morning. She said she had things on her mind but she never ended up talking about it. I didn’t think that much of it.”

“Maybe I should talk to her,” Weiss said.

Blake’s eyes went round. “Well, I think we all… should.”

 

In the tent, Weiss’s sleeping bag crinkled, the zipper jingling as she sat up and crawled to the door. She quickly unzipped the tent and closed it again. Taking a moment to look for stars, she gazed at the sky. Her focus shifted to the dock where a small silhouette sat in one of the chairs. Ruby. She walked towards her.

Ruby looked up at the sound of creaking footsteps. She had her arms crossed, anxiousness etched in her face. “Hi,” she said in a soft raspy voice. Weiss admired it. She took a seat in the chair next to Ruby.

“Hey Ruby. Couldn’t sleep?”

“Nah. Neither could you?”

“Nope. Well I guess I did for a bit. I came to see if you were out here.”

“Yeah. I’m just thinking.”

Weiss stared at the sky as she lounged in the beach chair. “About what?”

Ruby chose to stargaze as well. “Well… I guess people are worried about me.”

“We were trying to think of how to talk to you about it.”

Ruby paused. “This is fine. Just us early in the morning.” Looking at the stars together.

“Alright then. So?”

“So what?”

“What are you thinking about?”

It’s scary. It’s scary to look your best friend in the eye and tell them you love them. Ruby scowled at the night sky to distract herself from the fire in her heart. “At first I wasn’t really sure to be honest. It was just a jumbled mess. I didn’t realize how much it was affecting me. Then…” Ruby sighed and sat up. She watched the glimmering water. “Everyone came to me. They were worried. And then I felt embarrassed that I caused such a scene.”

Weiss sat up too. She didn’t quite know what to say, but the silence was unnerving. Maybe sometimes there had to be silence.

Ruby kept talking. “I guess I should’ve just told my friends that I had a problem. Even though I didn’t know what it was. Because when people found out, they somehow knew.”

“What do you mean?”

“You all talked to Uncle Qrow and he talked to me. Somehow all of you together found out the right things to say to help me think about my problem. I… I know what it is now.”

Weiss looked at her. “Whatever it is, I’ll help you. We all will.”

Ruby managed a smile. “Thanks. But… the thing is that… Weiss I…” Now Ruby returned Weiss’s eye contact for the first time. “I don’t know if this is true, but I’ve always felt like you wanted to be with me.”

Panic boiled in Weiss’s chest. “I… what do you mean?”

Ruby’s eyes darted to the dock floor. “Well… Weiss I gotta know, do you like me? Does a part of you want to… to date me? To be my girlfriend?”

Hurt surfaced in Weiss’s eyes. “This is what’s been bothering you. You’re… creeped out by me.”

It took a moment for Ruby to register that. Her head shot up and she gawked at Weiss. “No!” she asserted. Tears welled in her eyes. “No Weiss, I was just… I have my own feelings for you. That was what… Weiss…” 

Just like that, Ruby’s walls began to crumble. She got up and sat by Weiss, and she pulled her into a much needed hug. Neither of them said anything. They wiped their eyes. Ruby’s heart ached for Weiss in that moment. It was almost like a sign that she was right. She did love Weiss. She wanted to be with Weiss all the time, to cherish her. 

“I’m sorry I said it like that.”

“No,” Weiss said with a dismissive smile. “It was just a misunderstanding. I was sensitive about it.”

“That’s okay. But Weiss… I was going to say that… I want to be with you. I was just frustrated because I couldn’t understand my feelings.” Ruby wiped tears from Weiss’s face. “I want you to be my girlfriend.” She looked Weiss in the eye. “Look at me Weiss. Weiss?” They gazed into each other’s eyes.

“Weiss… I love you.”

Weiss laughed and nodded, mouthing the words back to Ruby as she pulled her into another hug.

It wasn’t so scary after all.


	12. Last Day at the Lake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

It was the last day of their trip, so they had to fill it with lots of fun. Thankfully, the weather held up. In fact, it was very sunny. Lots of people were out on the lake, including the girls. 

This time Taiyang was driving the boat, although Qrow had still come along. Everyone was in swimsuits. Blake and Yang were cuddled up in the back of the boat while Ruby and Weiss admired the waves from the front. The boat slowed to a stop in the middle of the lake.

“Okay everyone,” Taiyang called. “The water is about 90 feet deep here so please try not to die. We brought life jackets.”

Yang had brought a tube decorated like a donut instead of a life jacket. She was the first to plunge into the lake. Weiss peered into the water. Suddenly she whirled around and discovered Ruby’s failed attempt to push her. 

Weiss gasped. “Hey! I saw that.” She lifted Ruby off her feet and dropped her into the lake. 

Ruby resurfaced laughing. “Weiss!”

“It’s what you deserve.” With that she jumped in next to Ruby. Immediately a splashing fight ensued between the two of them. Yang also got involved.

“Blake!” Yang cried. “Help! It’s two against one!”

Blake stared uncaringly at her. “I’m getting there, my love. You can fend for yourself.

“Blake! Blake I’m dying! I can’t believe you’d…” Yang paused to spit out some water. Weiss and Ruby laughed.

Rolling her eyes, Blake gave in and dove towards Yang. When her head reached the surface, she shrieked a complaint or two (or seven) about the temperature of the water. Ruby claimed that she just needed to get used to it. She used this as an excuse to splash Blake. Yang shoved a massive wave of water towards Ruby.

Qrow observed from the boat and stood. “That’s pathetic,” he said. “You’re all being really immature.” He walked to the edge of the boat. “ _This_ is how you splash people.” Everyone screamed and made futile attempts to swim away as Qrow cannonballed into the lake. Taiyang followed with a second attack. Everyone split into three teams of two for the greatest splash war known to man. Weiss died at least five times. 

Before heading back to the cottage for lunch, Taiyang took everyone on a ride around the lake. Mist from the waves sprinkled them as they sat wrapped in towels. Yang rested on Blake’s shoulder, remembering the day that they wiped out on the tube. She chuckled to herself, but then she was sad knowing that Blake had been uncomfortable the whole time. 

“Remember the day we fell off the tube?” Yang said this quietly enough so that only Blake could hear it over the sound of the engine and crashing waves.

“Regrettably,” Blake said with a laugh.

“Yeah… I liked doing that with you but now I think about how you were scared, and I feel bad.”

“Aw.” Blake bent down and kissed Yang’s forehead. “You don’t need to feel bad about it. We talked it out, remember?”

Yang smiled and nodded. “Yeah okay.”

Blake gazed thoughtfully at all the unique cottages bordering the lake. She imagined the possible lives of their inhabitants. Some of the cottages had inflatable trampolines anchored not far from their docks. She thought of little kids squealing with joy as they bounced each other off of it and into the water.

She wondered how many children Yang wanted. The future was mucky like the lake in the busy afternoon. But sometimes, when she imagined it with Yang, the water cleared like it did at dusk: glimmering peacefully in the moonlight.

Yang poked Blake’s arm. “What do you think your parents will say when we tell them we’re dating?”

“I’m not sure. They do really like you though, so I wouldn’t sweat it.” Blake entertained the thought a little longer. “If they start asking about grandchildren, just smile and nod.”

Yang snorted. “Oh my gosh dude, maybe I should prepare for this.”

“Yang it’s just my parents, it’s fine.” Blake smiled. “But… out of curiosity… for the sake of getting to know you better…”

Looking up at her, Yang said, “Blake what is this. What’s happening here.”

“How many kids would you want?” She finished the question with an innocent grin.

Yang exhaled and sat up. “Hmm… maybe two? Three? Not sure really.”

“But you want some?”

The two exchanged an intense stare until Yang broke it by kissing Blake’s nose. “Yeah,” Yang said.

“Nice.”

When they got back to the cottage and parkes the boat, the girls all headed to the golf cart. They had three games of rock paper scissors to decide who the driver would be, and Blake won.

The four of them cruised up and down the cul de sacs telling funny stories and talking about their week. They were all on the same page now as far as who was dating who. Everyone was in the loop now. And they were happy.

Laughing with her friends as she told a story, Blake wiped tears from her eyes. She hushed Yang for making fun of her. “A-And then I looked at him and I was like…” she paused and squinted at something approaching in the distance.

“What?” Weiss said.

Blake peered ahead. “Do you… do you see that?”

“See what?” Yang asked, following Blake’s gaze. Her jaw dropped. “Is… is that…”

Making its way down the road was a gas-powered golf cart decorated with bright orange flames and seats lifted at least a foot off the ground. It had obscenely large wheels and fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror. None of this was as interesting as the identity of the driver.

Blake slammed the breaks, making her friends jerk forward. She leaned out the side of the golf cart. “Professor Ozpin?!”

The cart passed them in that moment, but it quickly squealed to a stop. Slowly it reversed back down the road towards the girls. Professor Ozpin stared at them through dark sunglasses. “Good afternoon students.”

Inevitably the girls burst out laughing. Ozpin nodded, accepting his fate. He removed his sunglasses to reveal his regular glasses underneath. “Yes I know, it must be incredibly amusing to you all that I have a life outside of school.”

“Uh Ozpin can I ask you a question?” Yang snickered.

“I suppose.”

She gestured to his cart and just laughed. Ozpin frowned and informed her that that was not a question.

“I’m borrowing this cart from a friend,” he explained as Ruby and Weiss stood up to go examine it.

Ruby curiously inspected the interior. “Ooh, what does this button do?” She pressed it and was smacked in the face with blaring pop music. 

Ozpin hurriedly turned it off. “Well it was nice to see you girls, even if you mocked me the whole time, but I have to go now.”

They said goodbye and watched silently as he took off. The girls decided to bring the golf cart back to the cottage.

 

Later that afternoon, Weiss found Ruby at the table with a cup and a pile of pistachio shells. She watched for a moment as Ruby cracked them open one by one, placing the nuts into the cup and the shells onto a napkin. Weiss came over and pulled up a chair. She took the bag of pistachios and dumped some onto her own napkin. Then the two of them sat together, slowly but surely cracking open pistachios.

“I wish they’d crack them open for you,” Ruby complained.

Weiss watched her struggle with one and held out her hand to take it. Her attempts to pry it open failed and she set it aside. Ruby gave it a disappointed look. “Well they do,” Weiss said. “You have to pay more for it.”

“I guess it’s not as rewarding if you don’t have to work hard for it.”

“Yeah I guess you could see it that way.”

Ruby banged one against the desk at the cost of a disapproving look from Weiss. She giggled. Then she inspected it carefully. “Relationships are pistachios.”

Weiss’s brow crinkled. “Excuse me?”

“They take hard work but they’re rewarding.”

Taking a second to stare profoundly at her, Weiss laughed. So did Ruby, but she maintained her opinion. Weiss came to agree. She stole one of Ruby’s pistachios, which just made Ruby recite her point about relationships being hard.

Afterwards, the girls played Monopoly for an unknown amount of time. When Weiss won, the others wouldn’t speak to her for a while until they forgave her for being so cruel to them and taking all of their land and money.

Then they all walked down to the lake. Or at least that was the plan until they saw a dog in their yard playing with Zwei. Delighted, they all rushed over to pet it. Zwei was thrilled for the attention.

In the evening, another bonfire started. They used it to roast hot dogs for dinner. Everyone laughed and grew closer as they told stories from the trip or from the past. Qrow and Taiyang had some good ones.

They were about to all change into regular clothes and begin the journey home when Ruby noticed the neighbor standing on one of those boards in the water. She sprinted over to them and asked if she and her friends could have a turn. The neighbors agreed wholeheartedly and took the opportunity to talk to Taiyang while Ruby positioned the board in the lake. The others hurried over to watch. Yang held the board in place while Weiss held Ruby’s waist, only letting go when Ruby claimed she could balance herself.

Everyone watched while Ruby took her time wobbling on the board and gingerly stroking the water with the paddle. Qrow took a picture and started a recording. Ruby looked back in time to notice him, as well as the others who were cheering her on.

“Look guys!” Ruby called. “I’m doing it!” She noticed that she was about to hit a raft and quickly struck the water with her paddle, sending her backward into the water. Her friends oooh’d and laughed. Qrow informed all of them that he got in on video.

Weiss waded out into the lake to help. She and Ruby brought the board back for someone else to try. Each of them ended up taking a turn until at last, Qrow was standing on it. Fully intending to pester him, Ruby swam after Qrow, chanting, “Don’t fall! Don’t fall!” Qrow did have some difficulty, but he also found a way to tap Ruby’s head with the paddle until she left him alone.

“You jealous that I’m better than you?” Qrow said. After that he lost his footing and smacked into the lake. Ruby thought that was great.

She and Qrow swam to shore to watch Blake take her turn after previously foregoing it. For her turn, she sat down on the board and invited Yang to join. Yang sat up on her knees and paddled around the dock.

As she paddled, she admired that moment. Everyone was having fun. She and Blake were at peace. The sun was setting in the sky, dying it purple. Crickets were emerging to sing. Blake looked up at her and smiled, giving her a thumbs up. Life was okay right then. It was beautiful.

An hour later, everyone was dressed and packing the van. Taiyang was driving with Qrow in the passenger seat. When the trunk slammed shut with a final thud, Weiss and Ruby piled into the back row while Yang and Blake sat in the middle. The car pulled out of the driveway and took off down the road.

Usually they would play music, but everyone was taking a moment to relish the peaceful, tired silence. Yang and Blake leaned against each other in the dark, Yang smiling and stroking Blake’s hair. Ruby and Weiss talked until they fell asleep holding hands. Qrow tossed back a blanket that he didn’t want to keep by his feet anymore. Yang unbuckled her seatbelt so that she could turn around and drape the blanket over Weiss and Ruby.

She looked at them for a few seconds, realizing that together, she and her sister had successfully fallen in love with their two best friends. How amazing was that?

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is actually my first fan fic, so maybe comment to let me know how you're liking it so far? :^)


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